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Shop local, ook bij de opticien!

Meestal schrijven wij over mooie brillen en zonnebrillen maar in deze Coronatijden maken we soms een uitzondering. Vandaag publiceerde de Volkskrant namelijk een interview met opticien Ton Greving…

Ton Greving is boos. Op politici die van alles beloven en uiteindelijk niets veranderen en op winkelketens die zich laakbaar en moreel verwerpelijk gedragen. En hij heeft helemaal gelijk. Want het kan niemand ontgaan zijn. Er is nogal wat ophef over grote bedrijven en winkelketens die de huur niet betalen, hun leveranciers afknijpen en vooraan staan om steun van de overheid te krijgen. Ook in de optiekbranche. Deze bedrijven verdienen heel veel geld maar reserveren niets voor ‘slechte’ tijden zoals deze. Ze keren alle winst direct uit aan de aandeelhouders. Bovendien zijn het meesters in het wegsluizen van belastinggeld dat ze eigenlijk zouden moeten betalen, zijn ze vaak in belastingparadijzen gevestigd en ontduiken ze op allerlei manieren de verplichting om bij te dragen aan onze nationale economie. Specsavers doet dat al jaren met slimme constructies en een hoofdvestiging op het eiland Guernsey waardoor het in Nederland nauwelijks belasting betaald. Volgens dit artikel in de Volkskrant in 2019 welgeteld 800 duizend euro op een omzet van 158 miljoen euro. Hoewel het bedrijf ontkent belasting te ontwijken, weigert het ook opening van zaken te geven. Hans Anders is officieel in Luxemburg gevestigd en ontloopt zo ook de normale belastingen in Nederland. De geldstromen van GrandVision lopen langs Monaco, de Antillen en Bermuda. In het verleden is er al het nodige over geschreven maar veranderd is er uiteindelijk niets. En nu er crisis is profiteren deze zelfde bedrijven, net als tal van anderen in andere branches, volop van de Nederlandse overheidssteun. Niet voor niets worden daar steeds meer vraagtekens bijgezet en groeit de roep om een beleid waarin alleen steun verleend wordt aan bedrijven die op een normale manier bijdragen aan de Nederlandse economie.

 

Bovenop al die slimme constructies weigeren verschillende optiekketens eenzijdig om in deze tijd huur te betalen. GrandVision kwam daarmee eerder al in het nieuws en Quote berichtte ook al over Hans Anders dat de betaling van de huur eveneens opschortte. Hans Anders is eigendom van de schatrijke investeringsmaatschappij 3i en dat soort clubs denken in goede tijden alleen aan zichzelf en wentelen in slechte tijden de problemen graag op anderen af. Laakbaar en verwerpelijk.

Het zijn de kleine zelfstandige ondernemers die nu de kar trekken en gelukkig krijgen alle ‘winkel lokaal’ initiatieven veel aandacht en support. Hopelijk herinnert iedereen zich straks ook nog hoe al die grote winkelketens zich hebben gedragen en blijven we massaal kiezen voor de lokale zelfstandige ondernemers. Want terwijl u denkt bij al die ketens goedkoop uit te zijn, kosten ze u aan de andere kant veel geld. Als alle grote bedrijven normaal belasting zouden betalen, zou de belasting voor burgers immers aanzienlijk omlaag kunnen en zouden de lasten eerlijker verdeeld kunnen worden. Zo hoort dat te zijn en Ton Greving maakt zich er terecht boos over dat het niet zo is en dat de politiek dat laat gebeuren. Niemand wordt beter van al die belastingvoordelen behalve de aandeelhouders van dit soort bedrijven. Misschien zorgt deze Coronacrisis ervoor dat dat nu echt verandert!        



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The ECO Ocean beach clean-up

The ECO Ocean beach clean-up

ECO Eyewear is taking their beach clean-ups from the coasts of the USA to Europe. Together with members of the ECO Eyewear family, they have dedicated themselves to cleaning up beaches so that coastal and ocean ecosystems can recover and improve.

It’s no secret that the oceans of the world are suffering from all the waste that we people dump everywhere. Turtles caught in fishnets. Fish who try to eat plastic waste. We’ve all seen the images and they’re not pretty. And it’s not just in the water where you can see the damage all that plastic causes. A lot of beaches are in pretty bad condition too, which has a serious effect on the ecosystem on land as well.

 

With their Ocean collection, ECO Eyewear is already trying to make the oceans a little bit cleaner. They turned over 30 tons of ocean plastic into cool eyewear. And now they are joining forces with people all over the world in a bid to make our beaches cleaner too. They started their beach clean-ups in the United States on the coasts of Miami, Orange County, and NYC, and are now taking them to Europe.

 

Portugal and Italy are the first countries where ECO beach clean-ups have been organized, and hopefully, more are soon to follow. If you want to get involved and start a beach clean-up in your city, you can contact ECO Eyewear and they will help you to get started. As they say at ECO ‘all big changes come in the form of many small ones’!

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Protect your children's eyes

Protect your children's eyes

In a time when some young children know how to scroll before they know how to turn the page of a book, it is extremely important to make parents aware of the possible long-term damage screens can cause to their children’s eyes…

Young children are spending more and more time behind screens instead of playing outside. This is of course not a new trend. Ever since the introduction of smartphones and i-Pads people have been talking about the need for children to go and play outside. And we’ve been hearing warnings about the negative consequences of screens on our eyes for years now. Staring at a screen for long periods at a time can cause severe nearsightedness in the future. But there are still many parents out there who don’t seem to realize just how damaging screens are to their children’s eyes.

 

photos by DigiDaan

Dutch eyecare organization Het Oogfonds is launching a campaign that aims to raise awareness with parents – and their children – about this topic. The slogan ’20-20-2, daar red je je ogen mee!’ (20-20-2, saves your eyes!’) encourages parents to install some new rules around screen time. After 20 minutes behind a screen, you focus on something in the far distance for 20 seconds, and you have to make sure you spent at least 2 hours per day in the broad daylight. All this is to prevent children from developing nearsightedness later on in life.

To create even more awareness, Amsterdam’s science museum NEMO is working together with Oogfonds by dedicating the family exhibition ‘Zo te Zien’ (‘See it Your Way’) to seeing. It demonstrates how our eyes work and how special but also delicate they are.

 

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New e-sport brand ambassadors for SEIKO Vision

New e-sport brand ambassadors for SEIKO Vision

If there was ever a group of people who need to think about giving their eyes some love and care, it’s gamers. They spend hours and hours looking at screens, which is not only tiresome for the eyes but in the long run can also be damaging...

Being a gamer is no longer just a time-consuming hobby for teenage boys, it became an actual profession with gamers competing in games like FIFA on a worldwide scale. These online competitions are watched live on the internet by millions of people. The players that participate in these competitions tend to have serious fanbases that they reach directly through their social channels.

 Thomas de Zeeuw holds a gaming consule while wearing Sparta shirt and wearing SEIKO Vision glasses

To become a professional e-sporter, you need to practice of course. Spending all those hours looking at a screen can wear your eyes out though. This is where glasses come into the story. More and more e-sporters are now seen wearing glasses while playing. By wearing glasses with special lenses, they give their eyes the proper care they need. These lenses help eyes to relax and give a comfortable and razor-sharp view, while at the same time protecting them from blue light.

 

SEIKO Vision recognizes the influence these players have. They were already working with Aristote Ndunu who plays online for Sparta Rotterdam. And now they introduce Thomas de Zeeuw (he also plays for Sparta just like Ndunu) and Eldridge O’Neill who is part of both the Manchester United and E_Oranje team as their new brand ambassadors.

With these ambassadors, SEIKO Vision is working hard to make people more aware of the need to take care of their eyes in this world where screens are more and more becoming an important part of our lives. Because you don’t have to be a professional gamer to benefit from these special lenses. Even if you are working behind a computer like a lot of people do or are on your smartphone a lot, it is wise to think about eye care and eye comfort.

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A summer of (pro) cycling with Bollé

A summer of (pro) cycling with Bollé

Sports eyewear brand Bollé is partnering with pro cyclists to help them enhance their performance during this year’s Tour de France. Of course, Bollé’s range of sunglasses and lenses can also help you protect your eyes while working out outside...

Bollé is not a new player in the world of pro cycling. Their first pair of sports sunglasses, the Nylon Grand Sport, dates back to 1958 and was a pair of cycling glasses with which Bollé equipped cyclists during the Tour de France. During this year’s Tour de France, Bollé cyclists will introduce the new Volt+-lens, the first lens ever to be made with the use of artificial intelligence.

Normal high contrast lenses will usually enhance one particular color, while more or less diminishing all other colors. Volt+ is different. It enhances all colors the same, giving you a new experience of color and contrast. Bollé cyclist Jakob Fuglsang from the Astana team, will be wearing the Volt+-lens during the 2021 Tour de France: ‘The Volt+-lens helps me see the road more clearly, detect wet and moist spots better and distinguish different textures of asphalt confidently. It enhances my safety on the bike.' The Volt+-lens will be available in 4 variants for all Bollé frames on the market.

Besides introducing this new lens, Bollé also partnered with the B&B Hotels team and is providing them with sunglasses and some even with safety helmets. The team members will be wearing the Chronoshield and Lightshifter frames, inspired by famous Bollé sport sunglasses from the 1980s. These sunglasses have vents to prevent the buildup of fog and special Thermogrip inserts on the arms and nose so that even during intense activity the glasses will stay in place. Special Phantom lenses adapt to changing light conditions and enhance color contrasts.

You don’t have to be a pro cycler to benefit from the Bollé technologies. They offer a multitude of frames and lenses for athletes from all levels and outdoor disciplines.

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NanaWoody&John X LINDA. holiday book

NanaWoody&John X LINDA. holiday book

Summer’s here so it’s time again for the special summer edition of your favorite magazines. Dutch magazine LINDA.’s holiday book is one of the most popular ones out there, and we totally understand why.

AM Eyewear

As always, it’s packed with interviews with the coolest people and the sunniest shoots. With sun come sunglasses and in this issue of the holiday book you can find tons of them. NanaWoody&John provided the stylists and photographers of two of the main photo shoots of this issue with the chicest and coolest sunglasses out there. We went with a selection of the newest models from Cazal, AM Eyewear, Victoria Beckham, Scotch & Soda, and Tom Ford. They made Ellemieke Vermolen’s look even stronger and lovers Veronica van Hoogdalem and Keyennu Lont look super chill and cool.

Cazal

Victoria Beckham

Cazal (him) and Scotch and Soda (her) 

Cazal (him) & Tom Ford  (her)

So, if you are in need of some good summer vibes and with that some sunglasses inspiration, go out and buy LINDA.’s summer book and have a look!